Memories
by anniebrackett
Summary: <html><head></head>Annie/Laurie "memories". Basically a series of oneshots throughout the relationship that was so obviously there. Currently on a break to be re-edited! I swear, once I get back on top of this, it'll be more bearable.</html>
1. Chapter 1

A fifteen year old Laurie screeches as she runs across the lawn, Annie right behind her with the garden hose in hand; "Baby, come on, I'm not in a bathing suit!" Laurie pleads as she comes to a stop.

"Yeah, but I am" the brunette replies with a quick wink before pointing the hose in Laurie's direction, causing the girl to start running again.

"Shit! That's cold!" Laurie yells when the first splash of water hits her. The bikini-clad girl behind her laughs throatily at her displeasure. But Laurie quickly switches direction, and is on top of Annie on the ground before the shorter girl even knows what's going on.

The blonde wrestles the hose out of Annie's grasp and immediately starts spraying her face, hair, shoulders, and chest with the freezing cold water. Annie screams and tries to push the giggling, hose-holding girl off of her, but it's useless.

Laurie is thoroughly enjoying getting payback, until she realizes that she's straddling the girl she's had an undeniable attraction to, who just so happens to be bikini-clad, squirming, and wet. So Laurie throws the hose off to the side, where it paints the side of the shed with water, and leans down. Her hands are placed above Annie's head, and her lips are inches away from the shivering girl's. She takes a deep breath and presses them together.

She doesn't get the reaction she expected; Annie doesn't push her off and run away. Instead she grabs Laurie's hair and pulls her closer. Eventually she does push Laurie off, but it's to grab her hand and lead her inside, out of the view of neighbors and out of the heat of the sun.


	2. Chapter 2

Their first date wasn't anything special. But really, how special can it be when you're both the walking definition of nervous, in the back corner of a diner in the next town over?

Obviously they couldn't have this little event in Haddonfield, where anyone could see them. So they go up to Clarks County and pick a little diner in the outskirts of town. Both girls are wearing some sort of date-wear. Laurie's being skinny jeans and a light blue tank top she bought the day before, while Annie's is a jaw-droppingly short skirt and her cheerleading jacket. Because God forbid she go without it.

They both politely order their meals, which had "no meat!" at Laurie's request. Then it was time for the awkward small talk to begin. Sure, they're best friends, but given the occasion, their conversation started off awkward & strange.

After several minutes, Annie bursts out laughing, interrupting Laurie mid-sentence. "This is fucking stupid!" she says between giggles, "I think we can manage to have a normal conversation. This is our first date, not our first conversation."

Laurie joins Annie in laughing at their ridiculous behavior, but quickly stops when she notices a middle-aged woman glaring at them from the other table. She doesn't know if the woman is glaring because she knows they're on a date, or because they're being loud. But she quickly looks down and picks at the corner of the already-chipped table corner, suddenly unsure of the entire night.

Annie notices, and makes a move to put a stop to the other girl's strange behavior. "Hey Laurie," she says as she reaches for the blonde's hand, "what's wrong?"

Laurie stares at their hands for a few seconds before answering with a question, "Are you sure about this?"

"Whaddya mean?" Annie asks, raising a brow at the other girl, sincerely confused.

"Are you sure about this date…about us?" Laurie clarifies, taking a deep breath before continuing, "Because we are going to run into more people like that woman over there; people that are going to judge us and say…things, rude, terrible things. And I don't want you to have to deal with that just because you're with me."

"Babe, I don't give a shit about what other people think. They have a problem with me & you? Well then fuck 'em. 'Cause they don't know anything about us," Annie replies, a smirk forming on her face, "and I'm going to prove it."

Laurie is about to ask what she's talking about, but she gets her answer before the words are out of her mouth. The petite girl in the letterman jacket hops on the diner table, the heel of her boot knocking over an empty glass. She reaches down and grabs Laurie's hand, successfully pulling her up on the table as well.

"Hey assholes!" Annie says, addressing the entire restaurant, but keeping her focus on the middle-aged woman from earlier, "I am _in love_ with this girl right here. If you have a problem with that, you can take it up with me." And with that, she pulls Laurie as close as possible, and presses their lips together. The manager comes over and interrupts the two, preventing it from getting heated, but it doesn't pose a problem. Because she hops down from the table, and leads the other girl out to the car to finish it.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Author's Note: **_

_**Hey guys, I'm updating again so soon because I'm going away for the weekend and probably won't be updating. I think this oneshot is pretty crappy, but hopefully you guys disagree. Also, I feel like Annie might be OOC? Let me know what you think. **_

_**Anyways, thanks for all the rad reviews! You guys are the reason why I even post these things. (:**_

Laurie's sitting on the couch with her parents when her mother gives her a strange look. "Laurie! What's that on your neck?" she asks, obviously talking about the large hickey on the girl's collarbone, which was given to her by Annie earlier that day.

The blonde girl blushes a deep crimson, and struggles to come up with an answer, stuttering over her words and adjusting her glasses nervously. But before she has to admit what it is, her cell phone goes off. She jumps off the couch and leaves the room to answer it, "Annie, you just saved my life." She says, not realizing how true those words could end up being in a year's time.

Annie laughs throatily on the other end before speaking, "and how'd I do that?"

Laurie blushes again before answering, "Uh, well, in the library today you kind of left a hickey on my neck. And I didn't notice it until my mother kindly pointed it out."

That sends the shorter girl into a fit of laughter, "Wow Laurie, you sure are great at hiding things, aren't you?" before Laurie can reply, Annie speaks again, "let me save your life again, come over here for the night."

"Baby, we both know you're not inviting me over there to protect me from my mother's questions," Laurie says, "but sure, I'll be over in twenty minutes."

"I'm totally doing it for you, Laurie." Annie says with a smirk that the blonde can't see, "okay, maybe a bit for me, but mostly for you, I swear. Oh, and make it ten." With that, the line goes dead and Laurie bites her lip, snapping her phone shut and grinning.

And in that moment, it had never been more clear to Laurie Strode; she's completely, and utterly head-over-heels in love with Annie. The sheriff's daughter had stolen her heart.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Authour's Note: I don't think this really counts as a "memory", but we can pretend this one time. **_

Annie wanders around her room topless, searching lazily for the black bra she had been wearing twenty minutes before, "where the fuck is it?" she mutters, lifting up random items to look underneath them.

"Maybe it's over there" Laurie says, pointing in the direction of the entrance to the bathroom that they would later end up sharing in a year's time.

The brunette makes her way in the direction the other girl pointed, and after several seconds she lets out a victory cry, "I found it!" she exclaims, quickly pulling it on and clasping it shut. She then makes her way over to the bed, and crawls over to Laurie, who sits up and wraps the sheet around her still-bare body, "thanks Laurie. You're a life-saver." She whispers before leaning forward.

Their lips find each other, but when the blonde tries to pull away, Annie lets out a noise that mirrors a growl and pulls her closer.

Meanwhile downstairs, Lee Brackett answers a loud knock at the door. On the front step is one Lynda Van Der Klok, a smile plastered on her face. "Hey, Mr. B! Is Annie around?" The girl asks as politely as she can manage, which actually isn't all that polite.

"Yeah, she's upstairs with Laurie. Go on up, Lynda." He replies, moving out of the way to let the girl in.

The girl tromps up the spiral staircase, and is about to enter Annie's bedroom when she hears a noise that doesn't exactly sound like the kind of noise you should be making when you're with your best friend.

"What the hell?" She whispers, leaning closer to the door. "Yeah, they're definitely fucking." She mutters. So many questions are running through the girl's head, but she knows that she can't barge in there and start asking them. So she quietly backs up and heads down the stairs, waving at Mr. Brackett as she leaves.

She'll just give them time, and let them tell her when they're ready.


	5. Chapter 5

Laurie Strode wakes up to a light tapping on her bedroom window. She sits up, and looks around confused, until she hears another tap. The girl crawls out of bed and grabs her glasses, peeking out the window nervously.

All fear dissipates when she sees her pint-sized girlfriend on her front lawn, with several small rocks in her hand. When said girlfriend sees Laurie, she stops mid-aim and sends a wave her way.

Laurie leans over and slides the window open, "Baby, what the hell are you doing? It's three in the morning!"

"Yeah, but it's a Friday," Annie replies with a grin, "now come on, let me in. I wanna spend the night with you."

"Wow, you're not subtle at all, Annie." Laurie says, before helping the girl through her window. They both land on her bed with a thump, and Laurie has to cover her girlfriend's mouth to keep her laughter from getting too loud.

When she removes her hand, the friendly-feel of the moment is gone, and they stare at each other for a few seconds. Then, for the first time in a long time, Laurie makes the first move. It turns heated quickly, which isn't unusual for the pair. But it ends as quickly as it started, when a loud creaking noise is heard outside the bedroom.

"Oh crap, it's probably my dad. Get in the closet!" Laurie says; panic quickly covering her features, as she pushes the almost shirtless brunette off of her.

"I believe I'm already spending a lot of time in there these days." Annie says with a wink before making her way to the closet.

The closet door slides shut just as the bedroom door creaks open, "Laurie, what's going on? I heard people talking." Mason Strode asks as he peers into the dark bedroom in attempts to locate his daughter.

"Oh, sorry dad, I was watching tv." Laurie replies, managing to cover her ass with a half-baked lie that she knew the girl in her closet would be proud of.

When her dad leaves, she goes over and pulls Annie out of the closet. "You have to leave, baby. We can't get caught."

"Fine, but I'll be back bright and early in the morning." Annie says, before pressing a kiss to her lips and climbing out the window, flashing a smile in the blondes direction.

Laurie watches her leave, and she smiles at the realization that Annie will always find a way to make her life more interesting. But Laurie knows that she could probably spend the rest of her life doing crazy things with that girl, and she hopes that she'll be able to.


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N: I decided to write some angst, because of how I've been feeling lately. Also because I felt like I was writing too much fluff. Don't worry though, this power couple will be back on the fluffy-path next chapter. **_

Breath in. Breath out. That's exactly what Laurie does. She takes deep gasps of air to prevent the tears from escaping her tightly shut lids. But it doesn't work quite as well as hoped, because the tears spill out anyways, causing the girl to slide down onto the floor. Her gasps turn into sobs, and the few tears turn into several more.

Her shaking hands turn into shaking fists as she attempts to calm herself down. But it's no use; the young girl is breaking down on her bedroom floor over the girl who said she no longer wanted her. Not now, not ever.

Despite the mess she is currently in, Laurie still holds onto the one shred of hope she has left. The shred of hope that Annie would text her four simple words: _I change my mind_.


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N: This continues after the last oneshot, so it doesn't really fit the whole "each chapter is a new oneshot" theme of the story, but oh well. I didn't want to leave you guys hanging with the ending of the last chapter. **_

A loud buzzing goes off on Laurie's nightstand, and the small screen lights up the entire corner of her bedroom. She groggily reaches around to grab it, but is suddenly a lot more awake when she sees who it's from.

_One new message from: Baby. _Laurie rereads the screen several times and swallows a lump in her throat before clicking open. This one message could make or break her happiness.

"_I change my mind. I DO want you, Laurie. In every way possible. I was being stupid when I said I didn't. Forgive me?" _ The message is short but sweet. But it most definitely makes Laurie's happiness, not breaks it like she was expecting.

She types a quick reply of _"Of course, baby. I can never not forgive you." _before she clicks her phone shut and bites her lip to prevent from breaking out into a full-blown grin. She is suddenly overcome with excitement, because she gets to see the cause of her happiness tomorrow. She gets to be with said cause in _every way possible_.

Laurie Strode somehow got her girl back, even though she was so sure that they were done; that they would be going back to being nothing but just friends. No, not anymore. Now they were back to the way they were. Back to late night phone calls, interrupted make out sessions, and helping hide each others hickies from said make out sessions. They were back to sex, secrets, and talking about their future together.


	8. Chapter 8

"Hey sexy" Annie says with a grin as she leans up and wraps her arm around Laurie's shoulders, causing the taller girl to be pulled down to her level.

"Hey you," Laurie says in reply, "mind letting go for a little while? I don't feel like being that close to the ground"

"Oh, burn!" is heard behind them, and both girls turn around to see Lynda heading in their direction, the grin on her face obviously caused by Laurie's "burn".

When the taller girl of the three eventually catches up, she slides in between the two and ruffles each girl's hair. Annie shoots a glare her way, whereas Laurie just squeals at the mussing-up of her blonde locks.

"So, summer break is only a few weeks away. Are you bitches pumped, or what?" Lynda asks enthusiastically, looking at each girl for an equally enthusiastic reply.

"Of course!" Laurie exclaims, while her girlfriend just nods a 'yes' in Lynda's direction.

"The end of school party at Ben Tramer's will be happening soon. Planning on taking anyone, Annie?" Lynda asks, trying to see if she can get a reaction out of Laurie. Come on, Lynda may be blonde, but she's not dumb. She can see that they are _obviously_ together. And she wants to be in the know, officially.

"Nah, probably not. There's not really any boys worth going with." Annie replies, glancing over at Laurie and trying hard not to stress the word 'boys'.

"What about Paul? I heard he_ totally _wants to bone you." Lynda says with a grin and a suggestive poke to Annie's ribs.

Before Annie can reply, Laurie jumps in, "She would never go out with him! Especially not let him _bone her_!" She says loudly, spitting out "bone her" with such malice that the other girls can't help but wince.

"Whoa, calm down, killer. If you keep acting like that, people are gonna think there's something going on between you two." Lynda says, hoping to get another violent reaction out of the blonde. Instead, Laurie blushes a deep crimson and shuts her mouth so tightly her lips turn into a thin white line.

Annie stops walking, causing Lynda & Laurie to stop aswell. The dark haired girl spins around to face Lynda, her features suddenly dark.

"You're bright, Lynda. And I know that you damn well know what's going on between me and Laurie. I fucking love her. And amazingly, she loves me back. So back the fuck off and stop trying to stir shit up. Or I will fuck you up. I don't care that you're the same size as two of me, I will do fucking damage if I have to. Don't you EVER upset Laurie, understood?" Annie says low and angry, as she looks up at Lynda, meaning every word she says.

"Calm the fuck down, I was just trying to get you two to tell me, because I've known for months. Don't worry, piglet. I won't touch your girl." Lynda replies, the "piglet" joke slipping out, clearly a poke at Annie's dad's occupation.

"Well now you know. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to take my girlfriend home." Annie says, obviously still pissed off as she grabs Laurie's hand and leads her in the opposite direction.

"See ya, Lynda." Laurie says quickly over her shoulder before going with Annie.

Lynda lets out a sigh. God, she loves the drama she so obviously creates.


	9. Chapter 9

A loud knocking on the door distracts Laurie from the book she was reading, so she tosses the novel carelessly on her bed and heads down the stairs to answer the door. But by the time she reaches it, her mother has already beaten her to it.

"Andrea! What are you doing here?" Her mother exclaims when she realizes who's behind the door. It's none other than her younger sister, who Laurie is not the biggest fan of.

"I was over in Clark's County for a conference, so I decided to come down to Haddonfield and pay a visit to my favorite small-town residents," Andrea replies, hugging her sister lightly before heading over to Laurie, "Oh, Laurie, you've grown so much. Come give your favorite aunt a hug!"

For the sake of being polite, Laurie gives her aunt a quick hug before attempting to get back upstairs.

"Where are you off to, missy? I just got here!" the older woman exclaims, before reaching out to grab Laurie's hand, "how about you show me your bedroom? I'd like to see what kind of things you're into these days."

Her mouth starts to push a big fat "no" out, but her mother gives her that look. The look that says "do it or else." So Laurie smiles a tight smile and nods a yes at her aunt.

Once they reach her bedroom, Laurie starts pointing out various things, such as her movie collection and her six-grade science fair award. But her aunt cuts her off mid sentence, "this is such a cute cheerleading jacket! Are you in cheerleading, Laurie?" she asks, picking up an orange & purple jacket off the back off the chair.

"Oh, no, that's Annie's." Laurie replies, going over to touch the jacket lightly, brushing non-existent hair off of the sleeve.

"Oh, I see. Well, I absolutely must know where you got this adorable blouse!" Andrea exclaims, moving onto the blouse that lies crumpled on the floor by Laurie's bed.

"That's Annie's too. She left it here…uh, last night." Laurie says, blushing softly at the memory of how violently she ripped it off her girlfriend last night.

"Hm. I thought it looked a little too small for you." Her aunt mutters, a frown starting to form on her face as she heads over to Laurie's bedside table. She picks up a note that was stuck on the snooze button of her alarm clock and starts to read it, her frown intensifying.

_Laur,_

_Dad called and said he wanted me home early. I didn't want to wake you up, so this note will have to work as a goodbye. I'll call you later; get your beauty sleep, even though you don't need it, hotstuff._

_I love you so much,_

_Annie._

When Laurie sees what her Aunt is looking at, she feels panic swell in her chest. The note paints a very pretty picture of a possible relationship between Annie and her.

"Let's go downstairs now; I think mom'll need help with supper." Laurie says, attempting to distract her aunt from the note in her hand.

Andrea simply nods, setting the note back down where she found it and turning around to follow Laurie out of the bedroom.

They're just about to reach the stairs when Laurie feels a pull on her wrist. She turns around to face her aunt, who does not look the least bit pleased.

"Laurie, I know that you and that Annie girl have something…experimental going on, and I want you to put a stop to it immediately. We don't do that in this family. Don't you dare disgrace your parents by being a…_lesbian_." Andrea says venomously, practically spitting the word "lesbian" into the young girl's face, causing her to visibly flinch.

The older woman flicks her hair over her shoulder before pushing past Laurie to head downstairs. Laurie stands frozen at the top of the stairs for quite a while before realizing that she isn't some little girl that that bitch can push around. She loves Annie, and she wants to shout it from the rooftops. Not sit here and be dictated about it.

So the blonde girl runs down the stairs so quickly she misses the last step, causing her to stumble and almost fall. But she catches herself and continues on her journey to the location of her aunt.

"Aunt Andrea!" she half-shouts when she enters the kitchen, causing everyone to turn and look at her, "I don't care what you think, okay? I don't care that I disgust you. Or that I'm a disgrace. I love Annie, and you will just have to deal with it!"

Everyone in the room stands in shock, before Mrs. Strode speaks, "Laurie, what are you talking about?"

"Your little girl is a dyke, Cynthia. How you didn't figure out from her room, I don't understand. That little girlfriend of hers has clothes all over the place, and there's a sickening love note on her dresser. It's absolutely disgusting." Andrea says, answering the question intended for her niece.

"Excuse me? Mason and I will accept our daughter no matter what, Andrea. If you have a problem with that, please leave our house now."Cynthia Strode says, taking a step toward her daughter and wrapping her arms protectively around her.

"Obviously you are all different people than I originally thought. I'll be taking your advice and leaving." Andrea replies as she grabs her bag exits the house, leaving a shocked Mason & Cynthia Strode, and a very upset Laurie in her wake.


	10. Chapter 10

_**A/N: Sorry for the melodrama of this chapter; I was watching One Tree Hill whilst writing it. **_

Things between Haddonfield's favorite closeted-couple had been going downhill over the summer. Visits between the two had gone from constant to none at all, and texts and calls were all barely-existent. The same could be said for every other form of contact between them.

One minute they were on top of the fucking world; a power couple, if you will. Then the next minute they were so distant it hurt. It really did; it physically pained Laurie every time Annie was mentioned.

The reason for this is actually really simple. Annie realized that although she may love Laurie, Paul had been looking very tempting lately. He asked her out almost every day, and she had everyone in town questioning why she wouldn't date him.

Laurie didn't need her girlfriend to tell her, because she saw what was right in front of her; Annie had feelings for Paul. For someone other than _her_.

For the first little while, Annie denied it. She denied any feelings for the blonde boy with the motorcycle. But eventually, her façade started to slip, and she started to show signs of interest in said boy.

Laurie may seem like a rather reserved girl, but she can be the total opposite when need be. And when she saw Annie kissing Paul goodbye after riding around on his dad's fucking motorcycle, she knew there was a need.

She had run at the tiny girl and hurled accusations at her before they were even ten feet apart. Annie, being the firecracker that she is, had screamed right back, trying to cause the biggest scene possible. She knew that if she caused a big enough scene, Laurie would shut up and settle down.

But there was no such luck of that happening this time. When Laurie reached the other girl, she came so close to hitting her. But she managed to restrain herself from injuring the person she loved most.

Eventually, believe it or not, Annie broke down. She stopped screaming and tried to wipe away the tears that were slipping out. But the tears wouldn't stop and her even breathing became a struggle to maintain.

"We're not a regular couple, Laurie," She said between half-sobs, "Everyone talks about us! I just want it to stop!"

"So you're going to screw around with someone else?" Laurie asks bitterly, her anger dissolving ever-so-slightly at Annie's tears.

"I just want to use him to get people to shut the fuck up! I want to fake-date him to get people off our fucking backs!"

"Baby, I see it all over your face. You like him. Please don't lie to me." Laurie attempts to squeeze more truth out of the brunette, hoping that they can leave this situation less fucked up than expected.

But Annie doesn't answer; she just blushes and looks at the ground.

"I-I have to think about all of this. I'll…talk to you later." Laurie mutters as she turns around and makes her way home, where she can properly breakdown without the prying eyes of Annie's neighbors.

All of that was in June, now it's August and Laurie is only just making her way up Annie's front steps. She thought about it for a majority of the summer before making up her mind about everything.

_**A/N #2: I think it's pretty obvious what her decision is, considering that this is an Annie/Laurie fic, not an Annie/Paul fic. Is there even such a thing? ;)**_

_**Anyways, I decided to go in this direction with the fic, to get ready to set a series of chapters during Halloween. So I had to address why there are mentions of Annie/Paul in the movie. **_


	11. Chapter 11

_**A/N: So sorry for the lack of updates, life got in the way. And I just wasn't feeling inspired, you know? Anyways, I'm back! So enjoy this long-overdue update.**_ _**As you'll notice, it's set during Halloween, as promised. I originally planned for more updates set during the first movie, but changed my mind. After this "memory" I'll turn my attention to the aftermath of Halloween and it's affect on everyone's favorite lesbian couple.**_**  
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>"Annie? We're coming in. You better be decent!" Laurie yells into the slightly-open door, knowing that if her girlfriend can hear her, she'll find humor in what she's saying. The only way Annie would ever not be decent is if she's alone with Laurie. Sure, she might lose a shirt with Paul to keep up the act, but she won't go all the way. Not with anyone but the blonde.<p>

But once she hits the lights, she realizes that Annie isn't laughing about her little joke. And neither is Laurie once she becomes conscious of what's going on behind the door of the Wallace residence. She sees Paul hanging from the ceiling, but her main focus is on the girl she loves most. The girl who's lying on the floor of the entryway, covered in her own blood.

Everything that happens next is a blur to the blonde. She barely remembers screeching and crying and telling Lindsey to "run home!" All she remembers is holding a topless Annie and crying.

Another thing that's a blur is the call she made to 911. She remembers calling Annie a friend instead of what she really is, and saying that she's "bleeding to death". She remembers that all the hair on the back of her neck stood straight when those words fell from her lips. Not her baby. Her baby can't be bleeding to death of the floor of some lush's house.

At some point during her call to 911, Annie's voice starts calling her name and all Laurie can think is that this could be the last time she hears it. She tries to cancel out such thoughts, but it's impossible to do when the owner of said voice is covered in gashes and the bleeding just won't stop.

In attempts to calm the girl on the floor in the other room, Laurie yells out to her, letting her know that she hears her, "Baby! Baby, hold on, okay? Annie, they're com—"The words of comfort die on her tongue and are replaced by her own shrieks for help.

As she runs out of the house and away from Annie to escape the boogeyman, all Laurie can think is that she has to make it out of this alive. She has to do it for Annie.


	12. Chapter 12

_**A/N: I took some inspiration from the dream scene in H2, but it's basically what I think Laurie would have done at the hospital when she leaves her room to see Annie. So you may notice that it's similar to the first part of the dream, but not exactly the same.**_

When Laurie walks into that hospital room and sees Annie bruised and battered, she has mixed feelings. She wants to breathe a sigh of relief that the other girl is still breathing, but she wants to scream and kick things over the whole situation. Her girlfriend is lying in a hospital bed, barely alive, all because of her.

Instead, she decides against both of those reactions. She runs towards the smaller girl as swiftly as her injuries will allow, and gets as close to her as possible. She lets her shaking hands lightly touch Annie's gashed face before she pulls them away to hold her own face in attempts to silence her sobs.

"Oh, baby, "She whispers, reaching for the other girl again, "Oh, Annie. Please don't die. Please, please, please don't die."

Before she can plead with the unconscious girl anymore, a voice interrupts her, "Please, Miss Strode. You can't be in here."

Laurie tries to convince the nurse to let her stay, but it doesn't work. She ends up getting led back to her room, where the nurse tells her to have a good night before leaving. Once the nurse's footsteps fade away, Laurie presses her back against the closed door and slides down it, the tears running freely. Her small frame shakes as she tries to keep her sobs from coming out, but her efforts are useless. The sobs escape her mouth anyways.

Laurie cries for her parents, for her girlfriend, and for herself. The only thing keeping her from totally losing it is the realization that she may have lost her parents, but at least there's still a chance for her and Annie to make it through this.


	13. Chapter 13

_**A/N: Are you guys giving up on this fic? I'm just wondering, because I got no reviews for the last chapter, and close to none for the chapter before it. I plan on keeping this going a lot longer, but if nobody is interested, I might cut it short. If you don't want that to happen, speak now & send some reviews my way!**_

Annie and Laurie's first day home from the hospital was a stressful one; despite being so in love before the attacks, the two girls were walking on eggshells around each other. Annie was more broken physically, but Laurie's mental damage was more severe (something that became much more prominent two years later). These facts just made each girl worried about the other.

Annie found herself constantly looking at the blonde out of the corner of her eye, whether it's at the dinner table or in the kitchen when Laurie limps to make a cup of tea.

"Laurie, let me make the tea for you. Go sit down and rest your leg." Annie says as she makes her way over to the other girl, attempting to keep her own limp from showing.

"I can manage." Laurie replies in an irritated tone, not bothering to even look at her girlfriend, which is something that Annie is thankful for. She doesn't want Laurie to see the flash of pain that crosses her face at the blonde's tone.

The smaller girl doesn't bother listening to Laurie; she proceeds to make the tea anyways. At some point between picking a flavor and filling the kettle, Laurie steps in her way. Her eyes travel all over Annie's face, focusing mainly on her now-healing gashes. That's when it first happens, when she first loses her cool and feels that "zero-to-a-hundred rage".

All Laurie can do is try not to hit the other girl as the white-hot anger consumes her. She screeches that she can do it herself, even though she knows she can't. She can't even make a goddamn cup of tea due to her injuries; the injuries that Michael Myers gave her. But she knows that Annie can't either, and Annie's injuries are her fault; he only went after the smaller girl because of her.

She doesn't let her guilt show; she just fights with Annie over her independence even though it technically isn't fighting. Screaming at somebody who doesn't even try to defend themselves isn't fighting, it's bullying.

The tiny brunette just stands there and takes it. If this had been a year ago, she would have fought with Laurie until they ended up having hot makeup sex on the nearest surface. But this isn't a year ago, this is now. And "now" is a mere two weeks after Laurie's parents and friends were killed, while her girlfriend was almost a victim as well.

Sure, Annie lost a friend and a fake-boyfriend that night. But that is nothing compared to the losses Laurie suffered. So, just this once, she doesn't bother to fight back. She lets her girlfriend verbally (and almost physically) abuse her because of what she went through. She just prays that she'll get the old Laurie back soon; the one who isn't so broken.


	14. Chapter 14

_**A/N: Thank you for all the amazing reviews! I don't think I'll be calling it quits with this fic any time soon, thanks to you guys. So just to show how grateful I am for you fantastic readers, I'm updating early with an extra-long update. **_

"Come on, Laur! We're already late!" Annie shouts up the spiral staircase, smirking slightly when she hears Laurie rushing to get ready.

Just a mere thirty seconds later, the blonde girl comes running down the stairs with her canvas bag tangled around her arm while she tries to pull a sweater on. When she reaches the last step, she sets the bag on the ground and stops wrestling the sweater as she glances at the clock.

"It's only three-twenty, Annie! My appointment isn't for another twenty minutes." Laurie manages to say between her deep gasps for air; clearly she had booked it down those stairs quicker than she had ever ran in gym class.

The brunette's smirk grows wider, "oh, really? I could've sworn you said it was at three" she says with a quick wink in the other girl's direction.

Laurie rolls her eyes as she grabs Annie's hand and leads her out the front door, trying to hide her nerves about the appointment by walking just a few steps ahead. But her façade only lasts until they reach the car; as Laurie goes to open her door and get in, Annie turns her around softly and brushes a stray piece of hair away from her face, concern etched into her features.

"Laurie, I know you're nervous, but it's going to go great. Then you'll just be even closer to total recovery, 'kay?" Annie says softly, attempting to capture Laurie's gaze with her own; a feat that proved difficult when the blonde decided that her ratty converse were the best thing to focus on.

After a beat of silence, the grungy-haired girl finally looks up and tosses a half smile in Annie's direction, not bothering to open her mouth and offer up an agreement to Annie's attempt at comforting words. So Annie kisses her quickly on the cheek before making her way around the car to the driver's seat.

The drive to the therapist's office is short and quiet; neither girl makes any attempt to talk to the other. And when Annie pulls into a parking lot, the blonde half of the still-teenaged couple makes no move to get out of the car, until the green numbers on the radio catches her eye; if she doesn't leave now, she really will be late.

With that, she grabs her bag and climbs out of the deafeningly silent car, shutting the door quickly behind her. But only a few seconds after the slamming of her door, she hears Annie's door creak open as Laurie's tiny counterpart climbs out of the car.

The counterpart in question's short legs carry her at a surprisingly quick speed, and she reaches Laurie when she's just starting to turn around; "Annie what are yo-" Laurie gets cut off mid-sentence by Annie's lips on her own.

After several seconds, Annie pulls away and offers a smile in at her girlfriend, "I love you, and good luck in there." She says as she turns and struts back to her vehicle, leaving a smiling Laurie outside the doors of the therapist's office; late for her appointment.


	15. Chapter 15

_**A/N: Sorry for the late update, I was trying to figure out how this next chapter should go while dealing with a crazy head cold and school-related stress. Anyways, this is inspired by the extended therapy scene in H2 where the therapist asks "how's your relationship with Annie going?" RELATIONSHIP. Barbara totally knew what was going on. ;) **_

_**A/N #2: This is a important, if you're wondering about my timeline: They got together the summer they turned fifteen, a majority of the chapters happened in their first year together, then shortly after their one year mark Halloween happened. So this is set about two months after Halloween, roughly half a year away from their two year mark. **_

Laurie Strode sat on the hard plastic waiting room chair, tapping her foot to no particular beat. It was just a product of her endless supply of nerves. The woman sitting next to her kept shooting dirt looks her way while thumbing through a worn issue of "Healthy Living".

After dozens of dirty looks and what felt like hours, a glasses-clad woman enters the room and extends her hand to Laurie.

"Hello Laurie, I'm Barbara. Follow me this way to my office."Barbara says, leading Laurie down a hallway that appears to be an endless sea of brown furniture.

When they reach the older woman's office, she motions for Laurie to take a seat on a small beige couch, and starts talking as soon as Laurie sits down.

"Okay then, let's start with a few warm-up questions, okay?" Barbara says as she takes out a clipboard and a pen and sends a smile in Laurie's direction, "what are your interests?"

"Oh, uh, I don't really have any anymore. I mostly just spend time with Annie when I'm not at work." Laurie replies, blushing at the realization that other than Annie, she really has no interests.

"Did you have interests before the accident?"

Laurie flinches at the mention of the accident so early on in the session, but answers the question quickly after, hoping that the older woman doesn't notice her reaction, "Not really; before all of that happened, I mainly just focused on school and Annie."

Barbara jots down a few notes on her clipboard before continuing with more questions, "It's only been five minutes, and you've already mentioned Annie twice. Do you want to tell me who she is?"

The blonde girl is obviously shocked that Annie is brought up, but she managed to compose herself a few seconds later. But unlike the previous question, she isn't so quick to reply.

"Annie is my, uh, girlfriend." She finally manages to spit out, and she can practically feel the nerves radiating off herself, "you're actually the first person I've told. Everybody else that knows found out from other people." She adds when that realization dawns on her; Annie announced it to the people at that restaurant, Lynda and Aunt Andrea had figured it out themselves, & Aunt Andrea told her parents.

Barbara smiles at the very nervous girl in front of her in attempts to show her that she's a therapist. Not a stranger on the street; she's not going to judge her.

"Do you feel like telling me about Annie?" She asks, adjusting her glasses ever-so-slightly as she waits for Laurie to tell her about the girl that she is so blatantly in love with.

"She's really short, but she makes up for it with her loud personality. She's probably the most beautiful girl I've ever met, but I'm a little biased when I say that." Laurie blushes a deep crimson and laughs at her own joke, even though it really wasn't all that funny.

Barbara smiles at the younger girl's description of her girlfriend, and she proceeds to ask about said girlfriend; it's clearly the best way to break the ice with Laurie.

"How long have you two been together?"

"Since we were fifteen. So, uh, almost two years." Laurie replies with a bit more confidence than she had when she first entered the building.

"Okay, well, I think you've done really well, Laurie. I know we haven't really touched on any of the issues surrounding the accident and that it hasn't been the full hour, but it's your first appointment. I just wanted to get to know you, and let you get comfortable with all of this." Barbara says, standing up to signal that the appointment is coming to a close.

After a quick handshake and a goodbye, Laurie walks out to see the girl they talked about sitting in the waiting room.

"Hey Annie," Laurie says, a smile quickly spreading across her features as she heads towards the girl that her previous conversation focused on. When Annie envelops her in a hug, Laurie presses her face to the side of the other girl's and whispers, "You were right; it went great, baby."

_**A/N #3: Well damn. At 800+ words, this is probably my longest chapter to date. That's a milestone that you should review. ;)**_


	16. Chapter 16

_**A/N: Sorry guys, I decided to tweak chapter seventeen, because I reread it and was really unhappy with it. Laurie felt really OOC, and I think she might still be.**_

_**A/N #2: I made a fanmix for everyone's favorite Haddonfield lesbians, which you can check out on my livejournal. Just type heylookitslissy followed by . livejournal . com (no spaces) to see it on my barely-used LJ account. Lemme know what you think!**_

A little over a month after the attacks, Laurie and Annie started going back to school.  
>Laurie got her driver's license the same week, and made sure to visit her parent's graves<br>at often as possible. They were _healing_.

The first day of school was obviously difficult. Not just work-wise, but socially. The  
>stares and whispers the pair received were enough to make even the oh-so-confident Annie<br>crack. All it took was one whisper from Ben Tramer's twin sister to make her lose her coolly-collected front. They were by the lockers when the taller girl leaned over and loudly whispered to her friend,

"Angela, there's Annie Brackett! I heard she wasn't really with Paul; he was her cover up. She's been fucking Laurie for like, two years. Poor Paul just got dragged into it all and ended up getting killed!"

To which her friend replied with a shocked gasp and a breathy whisper of "it's her fault he's dead!"

The girl who once compensated for her tiny body with a big personality as she strutted through the halls, crumpled into nothing but a small girl at those words. She quickly pushed her way through the herd of people in the hallway and dodged the stares and whispers that seemed to follow her presence.

She ran until she made her way to the bathroom furthest away from the students of Haddonfield High. She took a deep breath as she leaned against the sink, thinking that she had managed to get away undetected. But those thoughts quickly disappeared at the swishing of the bathroom door.

Annie took a deep breath as she turned around to face the only other person in the bathroom, silently praying that it wouldn't be Brea Tramer and her asshole friend Angela. It wasn't. Instead it was a very out-of-breath Laurie Strode.

After seeing the girl she loved run down that hallways, Laurie had thrown her well-worn canvas bag onto the floor next to her locker and ran after the other girl, not giving two shits about the seemingly-endless stares that followed her.

The two girls locked eyes across the bathroom, both freezing for a fraction of a second before Annie rushed towards the blonde and collapsed against her, finally losing it in front of the other girl.

"They said it's all my fault that Paul's dead, and they're right. I wouldn't have even been with him that night if I hadn't been so scared about what people thought of me being with you." Annie managed to get out between big gasps for air. The tears ran freely down her face as she clutched to Laurie's dark blue sweater.

It took a few moments for Laurie to figure out how to handle the situation she found herself in. She wasn't used to broken Annie, because usually she was the broken one. Usually she was the one who cried while Annie kissed her forehead and tried everything to comfort her.

But now the roles were switched. So Laurie did exactly what Annie would do; she pressed a kiss to the shorter girl's forehead before asking the inevitable, "Who said that it's your fault, Baby?"

A beat passed before Annie provided an answer, "Brea Tramer and Angela something-or-other."

Laurie untangled herself from the other girl, "_No fucking way_ are they getting away with that."

With that, the slightly-taller girl kissed Annie's forehead once more before making her way out of the bathroom and down the hall, leaving Annie to rush after her, terrified about what she's going to do. In the past month Laurie had already lost her absolute cool over a simple cup of tea, what is she capable in a situation like this?

It wasn't long before Annie got her answer, because she turned the corner just in time to see Laurie shove Angela into the nearest wall and send a fist into Brea's nose. It was obvious to everyone around that she did it with the intent to cause serious damage, but nobody objected except for the principal, who escorted Laurie to the office, where Sheriff Brackett would be called to pick her up.

At the end of the day when Annie got home, Laurie was definitely rewarded. Most people would say that leaving two girls bloody on the hallway floor isn't behavior that should be rewarded, but Annie had a different view on it. Who doesn't love a blonde superhero? Because in Annie's book, that's exactly what Laurie was.

_**A/N #3: Here's a little challenge for you guys. Whoever can tell me what's in this chapter that connects to actors from Halloween and/or Halloween II, gets a little present when the next chapter rolls around. **_

_**A/N #4: By the way, the key word in the challenge is "actors". So, I'm just suggesting that you take a look at the actors from the two movies. Or maybe it's just one of the movies that you should be looking at… ;)**_


	17. Chapter 17

_**A/N: Congrats to AidenHatterMoon! You got the answer for the little challenge in the last chapter. **_

_**The answer was Brea Grant & Angela Trimbur, who share the same first names as two of the characters in the last update. They played Harley & Mya in H2, who are featured in this chapter. **_

_**By the way, I hope you guys like this chapter; it's pushing 900 words.**_

The first day Laurie started work, Annie found it hard to let her go. She had honestly hoped that Laurie would just continue to do interviews around town and have no end result. So she was obviously upset when Laurie ran into the kitchen to answer the phone, and came back into Annie's room five minutes later with a grin plastered on her face.

"I got the job at the record & coffee shop!" She giggles excitedly, wrapping her arms around the shorter girl, who is sporting just a robe and a barely-visible frown. Annie half heartedly congratulates her girlfriend, who doesn't notice that she's not as sincere as she may seem.

The newly-employed girl is so excited that she's oblivious to Annie's change in mood that lasts for the rest of the night (despite certain celebratory events that take place in Annie's room) and increases the next morning.

"Baby, I'm off to work now!" Laurie shouts from the entryway into the kitchen. That's all it takes for Annie to get her slippered feet moving; she's in the room in a matter of seconds.

After several kisses, a drawn-out goodbye, and two hours later, Laurie is sitting behind the counter of Uncle Meat's Java Hole, making a cup of coffee for her third customer of the morning. It was a girl named Aiden who'd come in around ten and had been making small talk with Laurie over records. The blonde had to admit, this girl was pretty cute.

After the girl leaves, Laurie has a short fifteen-minute break. She makes a quick cup of coffee for herself and sits down with her fellow coworker, Mya Rockwell.

Five minutes into the conversation, Laurie is cut off in the middle of laughing at Mya's joke by the familiar clearing of someone's throat. She turns around and meets the jealous glare of her girlfriend, who had ditched her usual ensemble of yoga pants and a robe for jeans and a tank top.

"Hey Laurie," Annie says in a not-so-friendly tone, "I decided to stop by and see how your first day of _work _is going, but I guess there's not too much work actually going on."

Sensing the tension between the two girls, Mya attempts to help out her new friend, "Laurie's on a fifteen minute break, we were just having a cup of coffee."

Annie just shoots a glare in her direction while "oh, be quiet" slips out a little louder than intended.

"Annie!" Laurie exclaims, shock clear on her face at the dark-haired girl's sudden behavior.

"Okay, that's totally uncalled for. I'm just having a cup of coffee with Laurie. No big deal. You don't see my girlfriend freaking out." Mya says, jerking a thumb in Harley David's direction. Harley just shoots a wink at Mya before continuing to suck on a strand of hair and sort coffee cups. She realizes that it's probably not the best idea to bring up the fact that her and Mya's relationship is an open one.

While all of this unfolds, Laurie is silently studying her pint-sized girlfriend. She can tell that this is more than just a simple case of jealousy. So that's why she gets up and leads Annie outside, signaling to Mya & Harley that she'll be right back.

Once they're outside, Laurie instantly regrets not grabbing a jacket before coming out here, because as soon as they walk out, snowflakes start to fall rapidly. The first snowfall of the winter.

To compensate for her lack of clothing, Laurie wraps her arms around herself before speaking to the girl in front of her.

"Baby, I know what's going on. I'm not as oblivious to everything as you seem to think. I know how terrified you are of _him _and how it keeps you locked up. You almost never leave the house, Annie."

The girl she's addressing doesn't make any movement, if Laurie didn't know better, she'd say that Annie didn't hear her. But she knows damn well that she did, so she continues.

"That's why you got pissed off seeing me having a good time at work. I know you don't want me to go to work, and you definitely don't want me to actually enjoy it."

This hits a nerve for Annie; her gaze instantly shifts from Laurie's feet to her eyes, and Laurie doesn't like what she sees there. She sees a scared little girl, not the confident seventeen-year-old that used to reside there.

"I'm sorry, Laurie. It's just…I don't want to be alone in that house. It's only been a day and I'm already losing my mind not having you around." Annie replies, sounding so much like the scared girl Laurie saw in her gaze.

So the blonde girl reaches forward and grabs her girlfriend's hand to pull her closer and calm down the fear that she's keeping all bottled up.

"I know you're scared, Baby. I am too. But you can't just stop living and never leave the house because of it. No matter what, I'm always going to rush right home to see you, so promise me you'll try and leave the house a bit more?"

That's all it takes for Annie to agree with the blonde. As long as Laurie comes home to her every day after work, maybe this won't be so bad.


	18. Chapter 18

After the first snowfall, Christmas quickly followed. Annie had gotten all of her shopping done before the first of December even showed up while Laurie was just starting on the twentieth.

The majority of her shopping was done within the first hour; a box of berry tea for Mya, a grungy jean jacket for Harley, and a new stereo for Sheriff Brackett's truck. There was just one present left; the most important one on the list.

Laurie wandered around the mall for a good hour looking for that one certain gift. She was about to just give up and go somewhere else when she saw it. A small store with a large sign that read "Haddonfield Jewelers" wasn't what caught her eye; it was something in the window.

Before Laurie could even realize what she was doing, she was inside the store peeking into a particular glass case. There, under dim lighting, was a little silver band. Despite the size of the diamond attached to it, it was still stunning. Small and stunning, just like the girl who was going to (hopefully) be its new owner in five days time.

Ten minutes later Laurie was walking out with a small blue box tucked into her pocket. She had decided that since she and Annie are only seventeen, and since Sheriff Brackett still doesn't know about their relationship, she's going to give it to Annie as a promise ring of sorts. She'll just wait two years before she makes a different kind of proposal.

_**A/N: This was just a short little "memory". Anyways, I hope you guys don't think this was too out there. I took a chance by going way left field with the plot of my story, don't make me regret it. ;)**_


	19. Chapter 19

_**A/N: Happy Halloween everybody! Let's hope none of you are planning on babysitting tonight. ;)**_

New Years Eve marked the first time Laurie actually left the house for something other than appointments, work, school, or shopping.

As hard as she tried to fake it, everybody in a ten mile radius could tell that she wasn't as excited as she seemed. The blonde girl just isn't the best at keeping things under wraps; just ask all the people who figured out about her and Annie's relationship.

But while she was trying hard to hide her lack of excitement, Annie was the exact opposite; she let her distaste about Laurie going to the party openly show. Despite their conversation outside Laurie's work the month before, Annie still rarely left the house and would cling to Laurie almost every time she tried to leave.

Whenever Annie morphed into that clingy, scared little girl Laurie felt a little piece of herself break. It was okay to be scared after what they went through, but not to this extent, especially not months after the attacks. So Laurie flirted with the idea of talking to Sheriff Brackett about getting Annie into therapy, but she just didn't know how to approach it.

So instead, she tried to nudge the shorter girl in the direction of facing her fears. Laurie figured that maybe if she left more often, even if it's just for an hour or two, Annie would slowly overcome the fears that kept her locked away.

That's why Laurie agreed when Harley brought up the party the day before. That's why she dragged herself up the stairs to do makeup an hour before said party. That's why she begrudgingly left the house when she heard the horn of Harley & Mya's car honking outside of the Brackett residence, but not before sighing at the sight of Annie, who was asleep on the couch despite it being only nine-thirty, and pressing a quick kiss to the side of the brunette's face.


	20. Chapter 20

_**A/N: Halloween means double update time! I kind of rushed this crucial chapter, so I don't know if I handled it like I should have. Let me know what you think.**_

It was spring when Laurie and Annie made the decision to tell Sheriff Brackett about their relationship. For the past year they had been planning on telling him sometime in November, but Halloween night happened. But now, after several months of healing and many discussions (most of which ended in fights), the couple had decided that it was time.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Laurie whispers to Annie across the kitchen table, while Sheriff Brackett is in the kitchen, distracted by the pot of coffee.

Annie starts to reply, but at that moment Sheriff Brackett walks within earshot and sits in the chair next to his daughter, a cup of coffee in hand. So Annie settles for running her slippered foot along Laurie's calf and mouthing "positive" in her direction.

"Hey, Dad," Annie starts, nerves suddenly radiating off of her small body, "can we talk to you about something?"

At that, Lee Brackett looks up from the newspaper he was in the middle of reading and looks at Annie before it registers that she said "we", causing him to switch his attention between the two teenagers sitting at the table.

His gaze is the only go-ahead the two girls know they're going to get, so they jump into the conversation head first, silently praying that this won't go badly.

"Dad, I'm just going to come right out with this" Annie says, cringing visibly at the unintended pun, "I love Laurie."

Those three little words come out in a barely-there whisper, one that Sheriff Brackett has to strain his ears to hear. But when he does hear them, a look of confusion smothers his features. Something that Laurie notices right away, while Annie is too nervous to recognize it.

"As more than friends," Laurie jumps in to clear up that look of confusion while reaching under the table to hold her girlfriend's shaking hand in her own.

"Oh." Is all that the older man manages to get out when the realization hits him full force. Barely a word, more of a sound. That is his reaction to his daughter's coming out. The look of confusion is replaced by a slight frown, one that Annie and Laurie both see and take as a bad sign.

The two girls' sentences of "Mr. Brackett, we've been meaning to tell you for months" and "Daddy, I'm sorry" run together as they both jump to control the situation.

It takes a few more moments before he makes any move to discuss the issue at hand. But when he does, he's calm. He asks a few basic questions about their relationship and lays down some rules. Rules like separate bedrooms until they move out, and no PDA when he's in the room.

When he eventually leaves the room Annie and Laurie both let out sighs of relief. They did it. They somehow managed to come out to the only piece of family they had left.


	21. Chapter 21

_**A/N: I want to start off by apologizing for the gap between updates, I am really sorry. But I have an excuse this time and it isn't "I wasn't feeling inspired". Long story short, my laptop died for good so I got a new one, but the new one needed a certain part that took three weeks to come in, and then it didn't have Microsoft Word on it. **_

_**Also, this chapter is breaking the timeline and going back to the day they first met. So yes, that means little Laurie & Annie. **_

_**Enjoy and feel free to leave a review. :)**_

September 6th 1996. The day Laurie met Annie. When Harry met Sally? Please. Even they had nothing on the two five year olds who met that day and would end up falling in love years down the road. Why else would Laurie have gotten the numbers "09.06.96" etched into the ring she bought for Annie's seventeenth Christmas?

On that day, which was bursting with that end-of-summer feeling, two fathers took their daughters to their first day of school at Haddonfield Elementry. Those two fathers made eye contact over the heads of twenty-something five year olds. Eye contact that, from one end to the other, said _thank you_. Mason Strode knew that if it wasn't for the man he made eye contact with he wouldn't have the little blonde girl gripping his hand. He owed his happiness to the Sheriff who answered the right call four years prior.

After the two fathers (and one mother) said goodbye to their two little girls they all went out for coffee while said little girls started class.

It wasn't until lunch that the two girls first interacted. Annie Brackett was sitting at a table near the front, picking at a sandwich and barely tolerating the boy named Paul who was seated next to her when she noticed a little blonde girl sitting in the back of class all by herself. It only took a matter of seconds for the tiny brunette to wiggle off of her chair and head towards the blonde, her sandwich and Paul forgotten as soon as her feet touched the ground.

The greeting of "hi, I'm Annie" came bursting out of the smaller girl as soon as she was near the table.

After a quick breath she continued, "can I sit with you?" the question was only halfway out of her mouth when she climbed onto the chair. This action that, to some people, would be considered rude just made the shy blonde grin uncontrollably as she formed a short but sweet greeting of her own.

"Hi, I'm Laurie" came out in a shy, breathy whisper but her grin continued to grow.

But that one breathy greeting with that growing grin was all it took for Annie to want to spend every waking moment with the newly-introduced Laurie.

So, to kickstart their lives together, Annie grabs Laurie's hand firmly and drags her off to show off the new purple jacket her daddy bought her for today.

As Annie twirls around in the coat room to emphasize the way her jacket "shines" Laurie giggles and makes a comment about wanting to meet Annie's dad sometime because he must be "really cool" to get her such a jacket. So while Annie's movements emphasize her jacket, Laurie's comments emphasize her innocence. It emphasizes the fact that she has no clue that Sheriff Brackett saved her from living as Angel Myers: Sister of a Serial Killer.

Both girls don't know it yet, but their meeting today is going to lead to the demise of that innocence, of both of their innocences, in eleven years time when said serial killer comes after his little sister and the girl who means everything to her.


	22. Chapter 22

A loud shriek of what could be chalked up as terror sounded, causing Annie Brackett to jump awake and tear at her blankets in a panic, trying desperately to get out of bed and check on Laurie.

A few moments passed before the brunette's movements stilled as she realized that it had been her own shriek that had came bursting out of her during a rare nightmare. "Rare" because, despite never taking her medication, Annie almost never had nightmares; that was Laurie's job.

Most people would question why somebody who survived an attack by Michael Myers would choose not to take medication to numb the still very-real trauma for a good night's sleep, but Annie had a reason. The reason being that despite the occasional bad dream, Annie usually didn't dream about anything. Once she drifted off it was all darkness for the next eight hours. Or at least that's the "reason" she gives to anybody who bothers to ask.

The real reason? Laurie. She saw how much the blonde girl relied on her medication just to get to sleep even though those pills did nothing to help the nightmares she woke up screaming from every night. Sure, those nightmares drove Laurie straight into Annie's arms, but Annie would rather go without the other girl as long as it meant she was sleeping nightmare-free.

Once Annie's initial terror subsided and she stopped panicking over her nightmare, she headed in the direction of the bathroom. To pop pills? No. To reach the comfort of Laurie's bed as soon as possible? Without a doubt.

While Laurie relied on her meds to help her cope, Annie relied on Laurie. And frankly, that's better than anything the doctor can prescribe.


	23. Chapter 23

As Laurie throws Annie's purple and orange gown at it's proper owner, the realization of what day it is hits her at the exact moment the gown hits the face of the smaller girl.

It's graduation day.

The day that, once upon a time, Annie and Laurie had been looking forward to. They'd even came close to starting a countdown to this day.

Laurie remembers being barely fifteen, lying in the grass on the football field after Annie's cheer practice, holding hands with a certain miniature cheerleader, talking about how they were going to "get the hell out of Haddonfield" as soon as graduation rolled around.

But now graduation is rearing its ugly head and, truth be told, Laurie doesn't want to leave high school and officially _grow up_, especially not without her parents.

Another reason why she doesn't want to make that journey across the stage? The memorial. Haddonfield High had decided that the best way to send off this year's graduting class is with a memorial for the would-be graduates who died at the hands of Michael Myers.

And Laurie knows that this memorial is just going to make both her and Annie relive Halloween night. She also knows that every pair of eyes in the room will be on them. On the _survivors_. Although both of these things are not exactly ideal, she would pick them over the fact that once the memorial starts she'll be picturing Annie's picture up on the stand next to Lynda's, because she just won't be able to stop from thinking about the "what ifs?" that were so close to becoming reality.

A soft hand placed on her arm stops Laurie's thoughts from going any further, and she knows without looking up that the hand belongs to Annie. But she looks up anyways and meets Annie's worried gaze with her own unsure one.

That's all it takes for Annie to grip Laurie's hand in her own and lead the more-than-happy-to-oblige blonde away from the ceremony through the school's back enterence.

And when the music for the graduation ceremony begins, two of the would-be participants are over on the football field busy getting their gowns muddy and grass-stained as they talk about their future together, much like they did two years prior.


End file.
